


Left, Right, Together

by twofacedjanus



Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Fluff, Gen, Pre-Slash, pianist!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-10
Updated: 2013-02-10
Packaged: 2017-11-28 19:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/678154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twofacedjanus/pseuds/twofacedjanus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles plays the piano. Derek likes to listen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Left, Right, Together

**Author's Note:**

> This, much like my last work, just sort of happened. It has not been beta'd or even corrected for any sort of errors, so any mistakes are mine.
> 
> There are hints of romantic interest. However, I don't delve into it in this drabble.

Stiles had been playing Piano since he was three. His mom had taught him and ever since she died he kept up with it because it's all he has left of her. He's played in some professional concertos as a guest player, but he tried to keep himself modest. He avoided telling anyone, even though Scott knew that there's the piano in his living room and Derek can smell Stiles all over the ivory keys.

Derek sometimes would just sneak over to his house just to listen to Stiles play. He had nothing better to do. He just wanted to listen to him play.

After a few weeks of doing this, Derek finally got the nerve to knock on Stiles' door while he was playing. Stiles, of course, answered the door, not thinking it'd be Derek. He was of course taken aback when it was.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Derek heard his heart pick up a bit.

"I um. I heard you playing."

"Oh. The piano?" Stiles spun a bit and jutted his thumb back towards the mini-grand.

"Yeah. Uh. I was wondering if I could..." Derek scowled when Stiles smirked.

"You wanna come in and listen?" Stiles beamed.

Derek slowly swaggered in once Stiles had moved out of the way. He shucked off his shoes at the doorway and made himself comfortable on the couch.

Stiles sat back down on the bench and started playing. Derek had no idea what song it was, but it was incredible. He watched Stiles' fingers fly across the slightly yellowed keys, listening to the chords and crescendos and arpeggios Stiles breezed through. He felt the tension leave his shoulders and neck as he was absorbed by the melodies Stiles played. He almost didn't notice when silence filled the room. He shook his head and glanced at Stiles, who had spun slightly to half-smile at him.

"Did you like it?" Stiles inquired.

"I uh." Derek had no idea what to say. 'Jesus Christ, YES!' 'Encore!' 'I've never heard anything so beautiful.'

Stiles' face fell at Derek's silence. "You... didn't like it?"

Derek panicked and shook his head. "No! No, not that. I... I loved it. It was... it was beautiful."

Stiles blushed and looked to his feet. "Derek Hale, giving me a compliment?"

"What, I can't say something nice without being emasculated?" Derek raised a single brow.

"God, don't make that face," Stiles tried holding back a laugh. "I have no idea how you do that face."

"How long have you been playing?" Derek 

"Coming up on 15 years, now." Stiles shuffled his feet around and looked downtrodden. "My mom taught me how to play."

Stiles didn't talk about his mom to anyone. Especially not Derek. So why now?

"I'm glad you kept it up after all these years." Derek gave him a little smile. Stiles blushed again and Derek smelled that telltale aroma of attraction.

The next time Derek heard Stiles playing from afar, he visited again. The sheriff was home, but Derek didn't care. This was a good chance to introduce himself to him anyway, maybe extend an olive branch to him.

\--

Meeting the sheriff went about as well as Derek had expected; tense, but tentatively peaceful. He hadn't taken Derek for someone into fine arts, so hearing that he wanted to listen to Stiles play seemed to have warmed him up to Derek.

This continued for a few days. Stiles actually started playing every day, and Derek would drop by and just listen. Sometimes the sheriff was there, and he'd amicably offer Derek a beer. Derek would take it, wanting to improve his relationship with the sheriff, and perhaps Stiles himself.

The tenth day that Derek stopped by,after Stiles finished a long concerto, Derek cleared his throat to get Stiles' attention.

"How hard would it be to teach someone to play?" Derek quietly intoned.

"Uh, well. I still have the book mom gave me... It did a pretty good job, wouldn't you say?" Stiles looked uncomfortable at the mention of his mother..

"Could I... see it?"

"Uh... yeah, yeah. Let me go get it." Stiles shuffled over to the bookshelf and flipped through some thin books until he found it and slid it out with care. When he sat back down on the bench, he gestured Derek over, and Derek sat down at the bench.

The book Stiles placed in front of him had a colorful rendition of a child playing the piano. Derek glared at it, having expected something a bit more fitting to his brooding nature, but Stiles smiled as he flipped open the book.

"Let's start with learning the notes. Put your right hand here." Stiles gestured towards middle C. Derek put his hand a bit too far to the left. "No, right here." Stiles gingerly took derek's wrist and placed it in the right position. "Your thumb is resting on middle C. The notes up to here," Stiles gestured towards the next C, "follow the alphabet, C through G, then starting over at A. With me so far?" Derek nodded.

After about an hour of careful listening and practice, Derek was able to play a short, four measure ditty using the first five notes of C Major.

Derek harrumphed, and nodded to Stiles. "It's getting late. I should go."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later, then." Stiles got up off the piano bench and started absently cleaning up the room.

Derek came back the next day, and the same thing happened. Derek would listen to Stiles play a gorgeous piece he thinks Stiles said was from the mid-1800s, and Stiles would take an hour to teach Derek how to play. After a few lessons, Derek asked for a piece to play.

"Well, I'll see if I can find my beginner's solo book..."

"That'd be great," Derek replied. He gave a tiny smile to Stiles, who grinned back at him.

"Lemme go get it," Stiles hollered as he bounded up the stairs, three at a time and nearly tripping on the landing.

He came back with another thin book and plopped it down in front of Derek, showing him a short piece about a page in length. So far he'd just played a few measures at a time; this looked to be about 30.

"It's kind of long..." Derek sounded unsure.

"You can do it, man. You've been doing great."

After half an hour of left hand, right hand, and agonizingly slow hands-together, Derek could play the piece at about 30 beats per minute. When he finished, he rested his hands in his lap and frowned.

"That was crap, right?"

"What? No! That was great for having started a few days ago." Although Derek didn't hear the lie, he still didn't believe him.

"You're just saying that." He grimaced when Stiles looked at him like he had kicked his puppy.

"Dude, you can tell when I'm lying. And I know you didn't hear one."

Derek sighed and acquiesced. "No, I didn't hear one."

"So let's get another piece." Stiles pulled out another, and they worked on that one until Stiles was satisfied. Derek still wasn't.

"I want to play something faster," he scowled.

"Hey, you'll get there, okay?" Stiles patted his shoulder. Derek didn't know what he was doing until he noticed his hand lightly gripping Stiles' hand and keeping it on his shoulder.

After a few lessons, Derek stayed a bit after his lesson was over. "Do you have something like... a bit more complicated?"

"You mean like... a duet?"

"A what?" Derek raised his brows at Stiles.

"Two people play it. I could find an easy one?" Stiles scratched his hair.

"Alright," Derek nodded.

\--

When Derek arrived, Stiles grinned widely at him and showed him A Wish by Frederic Chopin. Stiles practically dragged Derek over to the piano bench and had him start on left hand, right hand, hands-together.

After 45 minutes, Stiles was happy with the results and took out a small device from the piano bench. He adjusted a dial on it, pushed a few buttons, and a slow ticking started.

"Ready?" Stiles smiled at him.

"I suppose." Derek assumed middle C position, and Stiles took his spot. "Note the F sharp. Don't forget that. One-two-three one-two-three,"

Derek started playing, but he wasn't sure why he didn't see it coming, because he was thrown off and had to stop. He growled out a curse, but Stiles just patted him again. "Let's try again, okay?" Stiles gently encouraged.

He tried again. And again... and again. And they finally played through A Wish at a slow speed.

"That was great, Derek. That was really great." Stiles pulled him into a side hug, and Derek recoiled away from him. "Whoa. Uh... sorry. I uh..."

Derek turned to look at him and his face fell.

"I'm... just gonna... go upstairs or something." But Derek grabbed his arm and sat him back down on the piano bench. He slowly pulled Stiles into a tight hug and held him. Stiles slowly wrapped his arms around Derek, and patted him on the back. "You did really great, Derek."


End file.
